Category Archives: General Bitching

Post navigation

The Atlantic has a piece about analytics. They point out that people SAY what news they want to watch and read, but then the analytics say something completely different. We say we want vegetables but then eat nothing but candy.

Since Journalism isn’t really about news(was it ever?), but about advertising, can a capitalist system actually produce good hard news? Is there a market for it? Should there need to be?

If we say, forced all the broadcasters out there to deliver between 6PM-7PM an hour of news with “NO COMMERCIALS”, would it be watched, or would the population just turn to cable for that hour?

Just looking at the way the new Academy Sports store’s street access is being set up it should be obvious to anyone that has to use Old Fannin or Flowood Drive during rush hour that it’s gonna royally screw up the flow of traffic. The amount of traffic that backs up on Flowood during the evening rush can ALREADY back all the way up to the light for Lowes, now they want to put a left turn right in the middle of that? Pretty obvious that someone is going to want to turn left on Flowood during rush hour (Instead of going to the light on Old Fannin to turn? Why would they do that Berial? Because of course they are. People don’t think while driving. They are too busy talking on their phones.) Once that ONE CAR decides to turn left against a sea of oncoming traffic everything behind that car is STUCK. And you get a logjam with NOBODY able to move. THANKS CIVIL ENGINEERS!

Look I appreciate that the Engineers in the area know HOW to make a road. I do. But didn’t they ever take some higher level classes that taught them traffic FLOW? Hell just they way they’ve set up Old Fannin right now with 2 turning lanes works great during NORMAL traffic. But the evening return traffic has to have a police car blocking one of those lanes just to give traffic a CHANCE at working because they put a damn traffic light at Olympic Drive JUST as they decided to push the lanes together, AND the light favors the people coming out of the subdivision. It is a COMMON occurrence for traffic at Old Fannin and Flowood to NOT BE ABLE TO TURN AT THE GREEN LIGHT, because the light at Olympic is Red and preventing all the HUGH TRAFFIC coming onto Old Fannin from moving.

Oh, and speaking of Old Fannin, I know you aren’t done but you’ve put about a 1 inch difference between the concrete of the curb and the road itself. I’m no civil engineer but I’m pretty sure that means water will stack up in low places up to an inch BEFORE it can even START to hit the drains. THAT IS NOT GOOD GUYS!

8:30 AM: Awoke a bit later than I would for work, but still with plenty of time to get to the airport for my 1:05 flight to Atlanta and on to Manchester.

11:30 AM: I was all checked in and through security. Nikki was on her way to Columbus for a nice week with her family.

1:05 PM: Discover there is a mechanical problem with the plane. I use the 1-800 number handed out by the Delta staff to get put on the 3:05 flight.

2:20 PM: Finally get to the front of the line to get my new boarding pass.(In retrospect I should have gone to the other gate to do this.) Get new boarding pass printed, but the clerk tells me the original 1:05 flight is working and boarding. She helpfully puts me back on the original flight, and prints out ANOTHER boarding pass for the 1:05.

2:50 PM: Told to get off the plane because the ‘fix’ wasn’t approved by the FAA.Call the 1-800 number again, but told the 3:05 is full and I cannot change to that flight.

3:30 PM: Told the part to fix the plane is being flown into Jackson and the flight should launch at 5:30PM. I had a VERY long layover in Atlanta but this is really pushing it. I get second flight changed from Manchester to last Boston flight.

5:30 PM: Given two slices of semi-warm pepperoni pizza. There really isn’t any place to eat in the Jackson airport past security so I feel we’ve earned it.

5:50 PM: Told the ‘part’ they flew in from Atlanta is the wrong part. Flight delayed till 8:30. No hope of making any connecting flights. I ask for my luggage back. My luggage, however, made the 3:05 flight and is now in Atlanta. Having no keys to get into my own home I call Nikki to make the 3 hour drive back to Jackson to take me home. Delta helpfully puts me on the first flight out of Jackson the next morning.

9:00 PM: Nikki picks me up from the airport and we have an exhausted dinner.

5:35 AM (Friday): I wake up get my carry-on and Nikki takes me to the airport…AGAIN.

7:30 AM (Friday): I’m finally on a plane ready to go to Atlanta. But wait, there is a problem! Luckily</sarcasm> there are two Delta technicians that had flown in last night on the plane (I WONDER WHY!?) and they are able to fix the problem in 10 minutes. My vacation finally starts. I’m already stressed out and miserable. Thanks DELTA!

1) Writes proposals for government (federal, state or local) contracts.

2) Learns the ACTUAL people you need to know to get through the bullshit ‘hoops’ that were set up just to prevent ordinary people from participating.

3) Writes those proposals for a fee or percentage?

We need this middleman for small to medium sized companies that can ACTUALLY do a good job for less than the HUGE companies that exploit their knowledge of #2 above, to get way overpaid for the jobs they seem to ALWAYS get.

You don’t pay 500$ for toilet seats unless you’ve specified the seats are made of something incredibly expensive or only one or two HUGE companies know they’re going to get the contract.

PS: I’m way to lazy, unpopular, and ignorant to create this business myself.

MSU has been thoroughly un-enjoyable to watch this season. They ALMOST pull off a enjoyable game like Auburn but then the idiotic defensive play calling makes the game obvious to anyone that’s watched a football game in the last decade. This weekends nail-biter certainly wasn’t much fun for MSU fans(Bowling Green fans probably enjoyed all but the end.) MSU barely held on to win versus a good MAC team. Let that sink in. While Ole Miss is giving Texas A&M all they can handle Bowling Green was about all State could handle.

I know I’m in ‘crazy/idiotic/unrealistic fan’ mode here but I honestly don’t think Mullen is getting it done. Maybe I’m wrong. Hopefully I’ll be proven wrong, but right now I think the thing that is ‘wrong’ with MSU football is the coaching staff.

Congrats and sorry to UM fans. That was a very entertaining game versus A&M and you ALMOST pulled it off. Better luck next year.